Until The Sky Falls Down
by MadHairGirl
Summary: Meet Stella Nicks: She knows she's nothing special, just another young trainer trying to path her way in the world. Journey she will until the sky falls down, but why are Pokemon falling sick and just who are the Underground Management? OC's welcome.
1. A Rough Beginning

**A Rough Beginning.**

My name is Stella.

My parents thought it would be very funny if they kicked me out the door of my own home the morning of my thirteenth birthday. They said they couldn't give me much but a journey was as good as anything. They just handed me a backpack and a Pokeball and pushed me out. Not so much as a 'Happy Birthday'.

I guess I'm a bit behind track on Pokemon training. I didn't leave on my tenth birthday like my three close friends did because my parents couldn't provide me with a starter Pokemon. So they all went gallivanting off around Sinnoh while I stayed snug in the house my parents had patched up for years in Veilstone City. I haven't heard much from my three friends since they left so I was half hoping this so called journey thing would allow me to cross paths with them again. I miss them all too much.

Veilstone City is quite a big city. The department store towered over every suburban house, making all of us Veilstonians feel insecure. I also felt that if there was even a minor earthquake it would come tumbling down very efficiently. Maylene's gym was the pride and joy of the city, producing tough and buff trainers one after the other. The game corner was the lowlight of the city, or so I thought. It held tragic memories for me of my good father who tried so hard to provide for us throw away school fee tuition after tomorrow's meal at breakfast.

After I'd been kicked out of home, I wondered around a bit. I'd rummaged through my bag but there wasn't much apart from empty Pokeballs that gleamed red and white and a couple of Potions which would come in handy later on, I was sure.

Then there was the not so empty Pokeball. It was reasonably heavy in my hands. I wondered what it was for the umpteenth time before deciding I didn't have the courage to see what was in it yet.

I wondered into the city's only Pokemon Center at that point. I thought it would be a good place to start since it _was _for Pokemon trainers. As an eleven year old kid who'd been kicked out of home, forced to start a journey when I hadn't made up my mind if I wanted to go or not, the Pokemon Center was probably the right place for me at that point.

The lobby had a comfortable feeling brimming from the couches. Many people were about, which I thought was unusual for this time of day. I'd have thought trainers would have been out and about, catching Pokemon.

I saw the familiar Nurse Joy wavering about near the front desk. Her Chansey was not far behind. The red headed nurse had a concerned look on her face; equal to the trainer she was dealing with. Or was it pink hair?

The unfamiliar trainer had extremely long dark brown hair and cowboy boots that looked very expensive. Despite the girl's wealthy look, she looked nice enough.

I wondered whether or not I should register for the league but then hastily decided that the league would do fine without me. Instead, I scuttled closer to Nurse Joy and the wealthy girl, eaves dropping on their conversation. Much safer.

Nurse Joy looked like she was only half listening as the girl, in a rather screechy, high pitched voice, poured her heart out to the nurse about a Pokemon I had never heard of before being wounded on the nearby route.

I tuned out for a few minutes, as I usually do and thought about what I was going to do for food. I was quite hungry even though hardly any time had passed since breakfast that morning. I was quite suddenly thrown back to reality from my food day dream by getting hair swatted across my eyeballs. That was the last thing I expected and I gaped at the girl, who looked at me with sudden disgust.

"You'll do," she grunted, before grabbing my arm rather fiercely and dragging me out of the Pokemon Center. I held tightly onto the bag and my Pokeball, in fear that this suddenly scary girl was going to rob me.

The determined girl dragged me through the city's streets, with me thinking about how strange the situation would look to by passers. We sure were getting some odd looks. I let out a small giggle at some of the city people's expressions.

That did it.

"What do you think you're laughing at?" The whirlwind tornado spun round to face me, deathly close. I screeched on my heels to an instant stop. "We've got to save that Pokemon, it's not a laughing matter." In a huff and the swish of her long locks, the girl dragged me off again.

So that's what I'd been dragged into.

I didn't understand why we had to crouch and weave and dodge and disappear into the tall leafy blades that sliced at my bare legs. I'd told the wealthy girl that I thought it would be fine just to go up to the Pokemon and offer help and Potions. All I got was an earful of screech. Apparently, not all Pokemon were approachable at all times.

So the wealthy girl and I were scouting through the route's swishy blades and sturdy trunks, looking for what I did not know. My scary companion had babbled on a bit about saving the Pokemon and grunted and huffed when the Pokemon we were trying to save wasn't were it initially was.

I still held the birthday Pokeball tightly in my palm, receiving some consolation that if a wild Pokemon attacked us, I'd then be able to help with my trusty partner Pokemon. Whatever and whoever it was.

The day was brightening with the sun seeping through my scalp, in turn burning up all my brain cells. All this plodding and tramping and scuttling was making me dizzy. Well, the girl was tramping onwards quite determinedly. I was the one plodding. The whirlwind tornado knew it too.

"Can't you pick up the pace?!" She twisted around to sort of whisper but sort of yell at me. I just returned a meek smile before making my knees work overtime.

"So," I started, matching the girl's sort of whisper toned voice. "What are we looking for exactly?"

She rolled her eyes at me before stopping suddenly. The wind had picked up quite a bit, blowing leaves and the blades of grass around violently. The girl's hair also nearly sliced my eyeballs again and I edged away slowly from her.

"Did you hear that?" I stood confused as the girl ran off in what I thought was a north easterly direction, leaving me behind. I got my legs moving, gripping my Pokeball and my bag tightly.

It was a good ten minutes before I caught up with her again. When I reached her, hair whizzing around everywhere and muddy cowboy boots, she held a battle stance facing a Pokemon. It was obviously the injured Pokemon - one of the joints on it's leg was swollen profusely, it's right eye was nearly shut and it's black coat was mangled and slightly patchy.

Despite the Pokemon's disadvantages, it still tried to stand proud and I suspected it was just protecting it's territory. It obviously did not understand we were trying to help it.

I watched as the girl swiftly and expertly reached for a Pokeball before throwing it out in front of her. Quickly, a Pokemon I instantly recognised materialised out of the blue light. A Roselia. It proudly flaunted the red and blue flowers it held on the ends of its arms as it did a twirl. It then copied it's trainer's determined battle stance, facing the hurt Pokemon.

"Gala, stun spore."

I watched in awe the first Pokemon battle I had ever seen up close. It was rather one sided though, since the injured Pokemon didn't do much at all. The Roselia, Gala, twirled on it's vine toes before expertly shooting orange coloured spores out of its flowers. It flew with incredible speed and I realised instantly that the girl and her Pokemon must have trained _a lot _to be able to attack like that.

As the paralysis started to take effect on the injured Pokemon, who hadn't even had a chance to fight back, the girl grabbed a pink coloured Pokeball and threw it. It flew fast and hard and the injured Pokemon, who gave a small yelp as it disappeared into the ball.

I watched as the girl grabbed the Pokeball and come running towards where I was standing and partially hiding, followed in tow by Gala, who looked extremely pleased with herself.

Determined eyes bored straight into mine as she handed me the Pokeball, her long hair floating about.

"Take this to the Pokemon Center, see what they can do for it," She explained. "It looked like a broken leg," The girl then turned to scan the area, suspicious. Then she turned back to me. "You need to hurry before the Pokemon's pack arrives back,"

"Uh, okay then," I stumbled. The Pokemon had a pack? Probably fierce, man-eating, scavenging pack mates. We'd all heard the stories as kids. But they were just stories, right?

"Will you be okay?" I asked, gripping the Pokeball tightly.

"Sure I will," The girl smiled for the first time, grinning at me. "I'll be fine. Now get that Pokemon outta here!"

With a nod I spun on my heels and ventured back the way we came, only this time, alone. Or so I thought.

It was taking me a while to find my way back to Veilstone. I hadn't been out here on the route for quite some time by myself. Even though the sun was shining brightly through the minimal cloud cover and there was a gentle breeze flowing through the foliage, the whole route still felt kind of eerie.

As I trudged through the long grass, I stared down at the Pokeball in my hands. Pink, pretty and radiating love. Then I looked at my own Pokeball. It was mysterious, holding captive an unknown soul waiting to be set free. Waiting for me to find the courage to.

As I pondered these thoughts, something came to my attention. The grassy blades to the left of me shook in violent bursts. Unusual for grass. Being the curious and somewhat dumbfounded girl I am, I took a step forward, bringing me closer to the shaking grass. Bad idea.

Whatever it was, it jumped. The whole grassy patch shook and jumped and weaved and bobbed its way on top of me and then off to the side again. I was knocked back off my feet, both the Pokeballs rolling off in unknown directions.

With the wind knocked out of my chest and my heart retching from the fright, I scrambled around before the grassy terror came back. I couldn't find the Pokeballs. It was just my luck to be thrown into what seemed like a life or death situation with no protection whatsoever.

I felt the presence before I saw it. While I was down on my knees searching through the grass and the dirt for the Pokeballs, the thing jumped on top of me. I was appalled because it was quite heavy and because it had the guts to do what it did.

"That's it," I grunted, before rolling sideways, throwing my attacker off balance and into the muddy dirt. As it quickly got back up, I could finally see what it was. The Pokemon looked exactly like the one we'd rescued. I instantly thought of my conversation with my lovely travel companion who'd left me out here alone about pack members. Maybe it knew I had its friend.

I spotted red amongst the green just as the Pokemon leaped forward towards me, teeth bared. It got the end of my lucky shoes as I reached the Pokeball. I managed to press the small white button on the Pokeball before hurrying off, keeping a distance between myself and the attacking Pokemon.

I had to turn back though. I had to see what would come out of _my _Pokeball. My partner Pokemon. It was a shame we couldn't meet in a better situation. My Pokemon materialised in the air, which quite surprised me. That was until I realised what it was.


	2. Star Struck Five

**Star Struck Five.**

I watched from behind grassy blades as my very own Pokemon buzzed around in the air above the attacking Pokemon, seemingly oblivious to anything but the sky. He, she or it was just staring at the sky. I glanced up a couple of times but there was nothing out of the ordinary up there. Just blue. Expansive and everlasting blue.

I recognised my partner Pokemon instantly. Small and compact, six knobbly legs, shiny and hard red shell protecting it's back. The five star Pokemon.

"Ledyba," I whispered to myself before rising. The Pokemon noticed me instantly and it's eyes seemed to glow and it's little mouth seemed to widen before it buzzed over to me. It must have known that it was bought for me.

The little Pokemon buzzed above my head as stared in awe at it. I couldn't believe it. My parents had bought me a bug. I had to make the most of what I had at that moment though.

I reminded myself to keep a lookout for the injured Pokemon's Pokeball before turning to my bug.

"Uh, hi," I said, quite unsure of how to talk to a Pokemon. "Um, I'm Stella. I'm trying to save an injured Pokemon at the moment but there's another Pokemon trying to attack me and maybe bite my leg off so if you could just help me find the Pokeball and defeat the evil one, that'd be great thanks," I rambled, highly unsure of this bug's capabilities as a fighter. I had to try something though.

The bug seemed to acknowledge what I'd said but didn't fly off to go save the day or anything. It fact, it just buzzed a bit more, twitching in the air.

I sighed, before having a light bulb moment.

"Tackle attack?"

All Pokemon seemed to know tackle. Most, anyway. The Ledyba nodded and swiftly flew off towards a grassy patch. It seemed to know exactly where to go, yet I couldn't even see our enemy.

I watched as the Ledyba swooped into the grass. I then heard a small yelp before the enemy Pokemon came hurtling out of the grass. The little bug seemed stronger than I thought.

I racked my brains for more attacks. Ledyba was a bug and flying combination, but I didn't think it could learn any flying attacks like a Pidgey or a Starly. It did look a bit like a fighter though.

"Ledyba, do you know any fighting attacks?" I yelled to it. I didn't see the reaction but I heard another yelp from the enemy Pokemon as Ledyba dove at it quite suddenly, it's knobbly paws ignited with white light.

Either my Ledyba was very well trained or that Pokemon was very weak, because the enemy Pokemon ran off towards a bunch of trees, yelping some more. It left me wondering where exactly my parents brought this little bug from. The Ledyba flew back to me. It seemed to be grinning. I smiled back and then turned around, staring at the grass crossly.

"We need to find the Pokeball Ledyba," I announced, getting down on all fours. "It's a pinky colour..." My mind drifted off as I searched the ground for the Pokeball.

"Led, ley,"

I looked up at Ledyba. In it's knobbly little paws it held tightly onto the pink Pokeball as it buzzed it's little wings furiously.

I stood up, brushing the dirt off my knees and grinned.

"Thanks," I said slowly, taking the Pokeball. "Let's get this to the Pokemon Center,"

The little bug buzzed around before flying ahead in a direction I convinced myself I recognised. I then took a deep breath and hoped for the best, following my new friend into the brilliant light of the day. I had a mission to complete.

* * *

I was sitting comfortably in the waiting room with my eager Ledyba snuggled in my arms as the eyeball swatting girl came hiking into the Pokemon center.

I was quite proud of myself. I'd managed to deliver the hurt Pokemon to Nurse Joy who'd been more than happy to take it off my hands. I'd had to explain feverishly that I wasn't the trainer of the beast who'd been cut to threads. I'd then managed quite easily to make firm friends with Ledyba. She, according to Nurse Joy's computer, was starting to get a bit annoying. The little bug was sticking to me like glue.

Eyeball swatter zoomed straight for Ledyba and I as Gala twirled at her heels.

"Is he alright?" she practically yelled in my face, waking Ledyba from her short nap. The girl's persona instantly changed as she recognized Ledyba. "What a cute Ledyba, though it doesn't look too healthy,"

I frowned, staring down at my Pokemon. She didn't look that bad, in my opinion.

"How long have you been a trainer?" The girl continued to query.

"Uhh, today" I mumbled, not meeting the girl's eyes.

"Oh my gosh, really?" Eyeball swatter suddenly obtained an apologetic face. "I'm so sorry I made you help me with that Houndour! I didn't realise you were a newbie..."

"Don't worry about it," I cut her off, one of my few bold moves. I didn't want the whole Pokemon center finding out I was a 'newbie', the girl had such a loud voice.

"Well, I better thank you the proper way then," The girl smiled before digging around in her satchel for a while before producing what looked like a bottle of milk, a candy bar and a couple of notes. She laughed at my confused face before continuing. "That Moomoo milk and a rare candy for your Ledyba and a small payment to say thankyou. If you're anything like me when I started out, I'm guessing you won't have much cash on you," She smiled at me.

I took the tokens of gratitude happily. It wasn't every day that someone repaid you for your help. Society, in my eleven year old eyes, had fallen off the track.

"I'm Mallory by the way and this is Gala," Mallory pointed to her Roselia.

"I'm Stella Nicks," I replied, grinning. The girl grinned back, laughing at me again. She was beginning to get on my nerves. Again.

"I guess you haven't named your Ledyba anything yet huh?"

Confusion filled my eyes yet again. Naming Ledyba? I hadn't thought of that.

Mallory dumped her bag beside me and sat down, staring briefly at the glowing red light signaling the hurt Pokemon was still undergoing treatment.

"So, what are you going to name her?" Mallory asked, fixing her swatting hair into a ponytail.

"I don't know," I stuttered, blank filling my mind. Ledyba rose slowly out of my arms, fluttering about air above our heads.

"Well, what about-"

I cut Mallory off yet again with the word "Minnie,"

I stared at Mallory, for the word had made an impromptu exit from my mouth. Mallory looked surprised but then she relaxed into her chair as Gala jumped up next to her.

"Minnie's cool," Was all she said in reply.

I stared at the Ledyba.

"Do you want to be called Minnie?" I asked the buzzing Ledyba.

I knew the answer straight away, for the little bug started to twist in the air, wiggling it's little paws around. Minnie seemed so happy, her paws started to glow with the same bright light as before.

"Whoa!" Mallory said in surprise, grinning. "Minnie knows Comet punch! She's definitely not your average beginner bug Stella!"

I just grinned at Mallory before turning to my new found friend, Minnie the Ledyba, who's paws alit when she was happy.

* * *

"Excuse me?"

The familiar Nurse Joy with her cherry blossom pink hair approached Mallory, Minnie and I as we were chowing down. The Pokemon we had saved had been in recovery for the majority of the afternoon. Mallory was staying in Veilstone until tomorrow, so I decided it couldn't hurt to do so too.

I hadn't realised the Pokemon center gave free rooms and free food to Pokemon trainers so Mallory had helped me register myself straight away. She had also decided to register me for the League, which I tried to stop her from doing but she argued that it couldn't hurt.

"Mallory and Stella," The Nurse started and I was surprised she made the effort to remember our names. "The Houndour is doing just fine now. Ofcourse, it will take some time before he is fully recovered and for his leg to heal properly but he should make a full recovery," Nurse Joy smiled.

Mallory let out a big sigh, grinning.

"Good work Stella," she praised and I blushed. Minnie buzzed up close to my cheek, her paws wiggling around.

The nurse departed our table with a smile. Mallory then grinned at me again before saying "You should meet the rest of the team you two,"

In a flash, Mallory had reached into her satchel and pulled out four more Pokeballs. Gala jumped and twirled on the seat next to Mallory.

The first Pokemon released materialised in the air, like I saw Minnie do. It was one I recognised. Our next door neighbour, an elderly lady kept two of them to help her tend to the garden. It spread out it's black and yellow wings, hovering in the air effortlessly. It was a bug like Minnie, a Beautifly.

The next three Pokemon to materialise out of their Pokeballs were all Pokemon I did not recognise at all. A large orange weasel that looked like an expert life guard, a shiny and slimy light green toad and a fairly large purple dog with the fiercest fangs.

Mallory must have recognised my confusion. Minnie also seemed both delighted and confused with her new found friends. The little red bug buzzed closer to Gala's flowers, seeking comfort. Luckily, Minnie was not swatted away by the Roselia.

Mallory pushed her hair off her face before pointing to her Pokemon.

"That's Flutter, she's a Beautifly,"

The Beautifly with it's perfect wings gracefully landed on Mallory's outstretch arm.

"And that's Jack, a Floatzel, Sticky the Politoed and Fang, who's a Granbull," Mallory explained. "Guys, meet Stella and Minnie,"

I smiled weakly and nodded to Mallory's Pokemon. I was in awe. They all looked so well trained, so strong.

Fang jumped up on Mallory's lap although he didn't fit, he was too big, rolley and shaggy. I watched as Mallory laughed, scratching the Pokemon behind his floppy ears. Sticky looked extremely happy to be out of his Pokeball as he clapped his little arms together happily. Jack looked relaxed and happy, taking a seat next to Mallory and taking over her dinner plate. Gala skipped away from Minnie to join her trainer. Flutter was still seated on Mallory's arm, looking calm and princess-like.

Mallory's team looked so... _together. _That togetherness was something I had never really experienced before, not with my family, although I loved my parents dearly and not with my friends who left me behind here in Veilstone.

That night I decided I wanted together. I wanted a team. I wanted to become a Pokemon trainer.

I offered an outstretched hand to Minnie who landed herself on my hand. She seemed to grin at me. Her little gem eyes glanced at Mallory and her Pokemon before turning back to me. I convinced myself then that Minnie wanted the same thing as I did.

Together.

* * *

Mallory and Gala were there to wish Minnie and I bon voyage. Mallory had kindly and forcefully brought me a ticket on the express train headed for the bright lights of Sinnoh's Jubilife city. My new found friend had insisted that she would wait for the Houndour to recover while she followed with interest as I took the gym leader challenge.

Minnie was buzzing above my head as we waited for the train to pull into the station. The little Ledyba had seemed excited to leave as she'd feverishly tried to help me pack my few belongings back at the Pokemon centre.

I'd then refused to go say goodbye to my parents, telling myself I'd call them once I got my first badge. If that ever happened at all.

As the shiny train zoomed into the station, chugging it's wheels to a stop, I turned to Mallory, my only friend as I properly begun my journey.

"Take care kiddo," The older girl smiled before she pointed me towards the train's open doors.

I smiled back and glanced at Minnie before turning towards the sleek and shiny silver doors that welcome me in. I walked down the compact aisle covered with velvet red material, trying to take everything in at once and trying not to cry. Minnie buzzed along by my shoulder. As I took a seat, I could see Mallory and Gala standing on the platform. Mallory bent down and picked the twirling rose Pokemon up into her arms. The scene last night at dinner replayed in my head and I imbedded the word into my brain - together. As far as I was concerned, it was the only way forward.

I made myself comfy in the lush, velvet seats as the train's horn wailed through the air. Minnie came to land on my shoulder and I hugged my backpack as both Minnie and I stared out the tinted window at Mallory and Gala. I knew they couldn't see us but I waved anyway. Minnie let a few mumbles of goodbye escape her little mouth as we fare welled good friends and broken pasts and said hello to this odd, fate induced partnership and a whole new start.


	3. Spike Boy And The Thrill Of Mudbaths

**Spike Boy And The Thrill Of Mud Baths.**

My very first battle opportunity came as quickly and unannounced as an Abra with Teleport. Minnie and I had been in the big and bright city of Jubilife for not longer than an hour before we were rudely interrupted. I was trying to find a decent and cheap food bar for our stomachs were waning away from the lack of delicious and gooey caramello chocolate and stringy and scrumptious spaghetti bolognaise that Minnie and I had devoured on the train ride last night. Instead of finding food, a scrawny looking boy whose blonde hair stuck up in random spikes and looked utterly stupid tapped me on the shoulder.

"Uhh, hi," For looking like a little punk, he certainly was shy. And I should know punks; all the boys who lived on my street were annoying brats who all took their Pokemon for granted. "Do you want to battle?" The boy continued. Minnie buzzed overhead, obviously intrigued.

I crossed my arms over my chest, suspicious. The boy seemed genuine, with his spiky blonde hair and obviously attracting smile. My smile was wiped off my face and replaced with a look of determination when I noticed two other boys about the same age as spike boy standing a few metres away, staring and laughing. Trying to hide their grins of glee and amusement.

My eyes flickered from the two boys back to spike boy as I put on a friendly face.

"Sure, I'd love to,"

Spike boy seemed surprised at my answer but gestured to a concrete area surrounded by potted trees and other plants. The perfect city battle square. I took to one end of the square while Spike boy stood at the other. The two laughing boys watched on from their spot, they obviously hadn't realised I had noticed them.

I watched closely as Spike boy pulled a red and white sphere from his belt, enlarging the ball before it was hurled into the air. It landed with a clank on the concrete before opening up, revealing blue light and Spike boy's prized Pokemon.

In place of the blue light stood a wobbly vine with a yellow bell-shaped head. I didn't recognise it at all. I then looked at Minnie, who was buzzing well above my head, staring at the sky. I looked upwards but like the first time I met the little bug, there was nothing there except the expansive blueness.

"Minnie, are you ready?" I called out. The five star Pokemon came fluttering back down and took up her battle position. So far, so good. I was determined to beat this loser and show him I wasn't the one to mess with.

I decided not to wait for Spike boy and his wobbly Pokemon and just like I had seen Mallory attack with Gala, I too engaged in battle.

"Minnie, uhh, Comet punch!"

Just as before, Minnie's paws lit up. The little bug rushed forward, her wings moving faster and faster as they brought her closer towards her target. Her paws struck the yellow bell-shaped head of the Pokemon. It was knocked off its little vines, hitting the concrete with a thud. I was fully surprised when the wobbly Pokemon sprung back up as quickly as it hit the ground.

I looked across the square at Spike boy, his eyes sparkling in the light that filtered through the trees.

"Bells, Vine whip!"

Two vines shot across the square towards Minnie, who buzzed her little wings in an attempt to dodge the wobbly Pokemon's attack, but failed. The smooth, green vines hit her jaw and sent her tumbling out of the air and back to the concrete earth. Shaken, but still functioning, Minnie rose into the air once more. I let out a sigh, relieved the little Pokemon was okay.

"Minnie, don't let that thing hit you again!" I clenched my fists. "Comet punch!"

I had no idea if I was doing this battling thing properly or not, I'd never had proper experience, but whatever I was doing seemed to be working. Slowly. Minnie's Comet punch contacted with the wobbly thing's little head again, knocking it over. The hit seemed to be stronger, for the yellow bell didn't get up quite as fast as last time. I then grinned and started to rack my brain for more attacks before our opponent could counter our last hit. Out of the corner of my eye though, I could see Minnie start to glow. Specifically, one of her little legs started to glow with a bright, white light.

"Ley!"

Minnie dove towards the wobbly Pokemon without warning. She seemed to be building power and force as she flew. I just stood in awe and in amazement that my little bug was attacking without orders. Wasn't that bad behaviour on Minnie's part? Whatever Minnie was doing, she was doing it right though, for before I knew it the yellow bell-shaped head was against the concrete once more. And this time, it didn't spring back to life. It just stayed there. My first thought was that Minnie had killed the poor little plant. Minnie floated back over to where I was stuck on the spot, lost for words. The little bug had bruised paws, a slightly bent wing and looked absolutely exhausted.

"I guess I'm not the only one out of practice," I joked as I held out my hands. Minnie landed with a plonk.

I looked up, startled as Spike boy now stood in front of me, Wobbly in his arms, looking better than it should be for a plant that was just beaten up by my tough little bug.

"Thanks for that, uhh, rather short battle," He said. He smiled as he held out his hand, offering a bunch of notes. "I thought you were a rookie trainer, but I beg to differ now,"

Rookie trainer, indeed I was but Minnie, however, was definitely _not _rookie_._ I took the small amount of money, not knowing what he was paying me for, gave him a goodbye smile and turned to leave, intending to take Minnie to the Pokemon Center. Spike boy however, stopped me from doing just that.

"I'm Kieran, by the way,"

I turned back to face him, just in time to see the two boys who had watched out short battle leave the square without looking back. Odd.

Kieran 'Spike boy' had his hand outstretched, so I juggled Minnie into one hand and shook his with the other.

"I'm Stella Nicks," To avoid awkward silence and since this boy decided to introduce himself to me _and_ because his weird friends left him, I decided to be nice. "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of Pokemon is that?" I pointed awkwardly at the Pokemon he dubbed 'Bells'.

I was surprised when he laughed at me.

* * *

To my disappointment and to Minnie's delight, Kieran, or 'Spike' as I liked to call him, hung around with me for the whole three days I was in Jubilife. To my disgust, Minnie had become quite good friends with Bella, the wobbly Pokemon I found out was a Bellsprout. No surprises where his naming choice came from there. Kieran also had two more Pokemon Minnie had befriended, a mischievous Meditite named Neeka and a cute Poliwag called Tigg. I was becoming increasingly jealous, because even though I hardly knew Kieran, I could see he and his Pokemon had the whole 'together' thing. He may not have had the most well chosen team and they may not have been as strong as other Pokemon, but they had trust in eachother.

Keiran was also around when I caught my first Pokemon. Yes, shout and scream all you want, but it wasn't the most pleasant experience I've ever had. Keiran insisted that I take a look east of Jubilife near Oreburgh city but boy, was that a bad idea. The area had recently experienced a bad lot of flooding, turning the whole area into a miniature Pastoria Marsh. I knew I wouldn't find any normal Pokemon there or any Pokemon I actually wanted on my team for that matter. What I did find was a fat bundle of fun though.

Trekking through the mud, spurred on by Kieran's words "I'll buy you a doughnut the minute we get back to the city!", I was surprised to find a spot of yellow amongst the brown, oozing mud. I walked right by it and got one hell of a fright.

The yellow spot turned out to be a Pokemon having a mud bath. One thing led to another after that. Minnie befriended the Pokemon and had a mud bath with it, I managed to get covered in mud and Keiran managed to slip and fall in the mud, coating us all in another layer of mud-ness. The only one who stayed remotely clean was Bella who seemed to be photosynthesizing in the sunlight as we mud bathed with strange Pokemon.

So mud baths and Minnie's never ending curiosity and extreme friendliness led to meeting the slightly overweight, mud-loving Psyduck Sawyer.

* * *

"So," Kieran started, placing his three Pokeballs into slots in his belt. I really needed to think about getting one of those things. "Shall we head to the gym now?"

Kieran, Minnie, Sawyer and I had made it to Oreburgh city. The place wasn't as impressive as its neighbouring city, just full of rocks, construction workers with odd plastic hats and kids with identical Geodudes. A bit weird, but who was I to judge?

We had trudged into the Pokemon Center with mud caking our clothes. Sawyer seemed happily enough with the company of Minnie, which I was glad about. I had experienced the fear that the next wild Pokemon I would encounter would react like the injured Houndour Mallory and I had saved did. Sawyer seemed just the opposite though.

After resting up, healing the Pokemon and receiving valuable information about Sawyer from the familiar Nurse Joy was when Kieran posed the question.

"The gym?" I spat back, bewildered. Why would I be going to the gym? "Kieran, I've done no training with Minnie or Sawyer!"

Despite my protesting, Kieran still dragged me to the Pokemon Center with Minnie and Sawyer chattering happily behind us.

"Stella, this is an easy defeat," Kieran replied. "The gym leader's just taken over from his father; he's still a rookie,"

The walk to the gym took less time than I anticipated.

"Sort of anyway," Kieran continued. My eyes flashed from him to the looming gym that stood in front of me and back. "You've got the type advantage anyway,"

"No I-" I started to protest but then remembered the mud bath. "Oh, Sawyer's a water type,"

Kieran nodded, grinning. His smile seemed to give me some kind of confidence. I then looked to Minnie and Sawyer. Crouching down to be closer to Sawyer's height, I motioned for Minnie to fly lower. She buzzed down, landing on top of Sawyer's yellow furry head. For the second time today I really noticed how plump Sawyer looked.

"Do you guys want to do this? Take on the gym leader?" I questioned my team mates.

Minnie's answer came quickly. She rose off Sawyer's head and flew in circles, her little wings beating the air. One of her little paws then pointed towards Sawyer.

"Ledy! Ledyba!"

Sawyer turned his bill upwards, staring at Minnie with his big eyes.

"Psy, Psyduck, duck!"

The pair conversed for a few seconds before Sawyer turned back to face me, his eyes burning with determination. Whatever Minnie had said to him sure had fired him up.

"Psyduck!"

With that last word, though I did not know what Sawyer said, his webbed feet slapped against the concrete as he made his way towards the gym's sliding doors. I hurried to catch up. For an overweight duck, Sawyer moved pretty swiftly when he wanted to. Minnie and Kieran followed closely behind us. Inside the gym, we ended up in the reception area. A young man approached us as soon as he noticed we had arrived.

"Are you here to challenge the gym leader?" He said. A large grey rock with arms and legs followed the man with a wicked looking grin on it's face.

I nodded meekly as Sawyer screeched in the walking rock's face. I prayed that we wouldn't be facing that thing. The man nodded before gesturing to follow him.

We were led though double doors as brown as the earth to a fully equipped battle field. My mouth dropped. I had never seen anything with so much... awesomeness. Large scale rocks scattered the arena along with loose dirt piles scattered over the ground. Gritty and harsh, the power that radiated from this gym leader's battle field told me that Kieran lied to me and this gym leader was no rookie. Despite all of this, Sawyer still stood proudly by my side as he drew air in, trying to make himself seem bigger than the little Psyduck really was. It just made him look podgier but I kept this to myself.

Nervous Butterfree overtook my stomach and all of my body cells as I stood at one end of the battle field. A shadowy shape stood on the other side of the field, immersed in darkness. Definitely a way to make an entrance. The lights overhead moved to flood the shadow in light. I had to stifle my laughter, for the gym leader looked like every other construction worker I had seen in this mad city. Plastic helmet, overalls and glasses, Roark stepped forward to face me.

The man and the freaky rock thing then stepped out of nowhere holding an orange flag in his hands.

"The battle between the Oreburgh gym leader Roark and the challenger," His eyes shot towards me. Startled, I finally realised what he wanted.

"I'm Stella Nicks, from Veilstone City,"

He nodded before continuing. "The battle between Roark and Stella Nicks who hails from Veilstone City will be a one-on-one battle,"

I was surprised by how professional this all was. Before I knew it, the battle had begun. Roark released a Geodude. That was when I realised why all the kids in the city had Geodude's of their own.

"Go Stella! You can do this!" Kieran stood on the sidelines grinning and waving. He was kind of an embarrassment. Minnie hovered above his head as she wiggled her little legs. I think that it was meant to be some form of cheering. I shook off my nervous Butterfrees and called to Sawyer.

"Okay Sawyer, let's finish this thing before it's even started! Scratch!"

I was surprised with how confident I sounded. Roark seemed equally surprised with my confidence and Sawyer's speed. The little Psyduck was in the mood to exercise or something. The yellow duck zoomed forward, his paw outstretched, ready to strike with undeveloped claws. I cringed slightly as his weight was thrown around his small body.

The Geodude took Sawyer's hit without damage. The rock Pokemon just grinned and moved away from Sawyer, who looked bewildered.

Roark chuckled, grinning. I frowned at the gym leader.

"Geodude, defense curl!"

The grey coloured rock then wrapped its arms around it's body before shutting it's eyes. Levitating in the air, the rock didn't look like a Pokemon any longer, just an odd rock. I knew I had to act fast before Geodude's defense was raised to an unmanageable level.

"Sawyer, water gun!"

As soon as the words had left my mouth, Sawyer took a deep breath in before squirting a beam of water on the levitating rock. Startled by the sudden burst of water combined with Geodude's strong dislike of water, our opponent was forced out of the defense curl and attempted to remove itself from Sawyer's attack.

"Shoot again Sawyer!"

I was amazed by the ability my new found friend had. Sawyer was shooting short, controlled bursts at the moving rock. I could see the Geodude was distressed, something looked wrong with it.

A split second later, Roark was running onto the battle field, his arms outstretched towards the distressed Geodude.

"Stop! Tell your Psyduck to stop!" He yelled at me, reaching his Pokemon and using his body to shield it from Psyduck's shots of water.

"Sawyer, stop it!"

I ran towards Roark, his Pokemon and Sawyer. As I got closer, I could see that the Geodude didn't look right. I then realised that one of its rocky arms was missing. Sawyer had blown one of it's arms off. Starting to feel sick in the stomach and the head, I watched as Roark slowly lifted the Geodude into his arms, its body crumbling before my eyes.

I watched with tears in my eyes as Roark returned his Pokemon to its Pokeball looking mighty disappointed. Thoughts ran through my head of how I would continue my journey when I had made my Psyduck kill a gym leader's Pokemon. Roark must have seen the expression on my face as I thought these hurtful thoughts. He turned to me, smiling.

"I know what you're thinking Stella," He started, adjusting his helmet. "Geodude will be fine, don't you worry. That particular Geodude is a newly hatched kiddo; I wanted to test his strength."

Minnie buzzed over to where Sawyer and I stood and I plucked her out of the air, hugging her to my chest. She was comforting. Kieran also came to a stand still behind me, a worried look on his face.

"Are you sure?" I mumbled, briefly wiping tears rolling down my cheeks. I felt Kieran's hand on my shoulder and thought for a split second how odd that felt.

Roark nodded, holding Geodude's Pokeball in his hands.

"Honest, don't worry Stella. Your Psyduck has a pretty powerful water gun,"

As hard as I tried to accept it, Roark's words weren't making me feel any better about nearly killing Geodude. I looked down at Sawyer who also had a worried look in his eyes instead of the usually blank stare. I touched his furry head briefly; not knowing if that would make him feel any better or not. I wasn't an extremely affectionate person myself; I managed to nearly suffocate Minnie instead of hugging her.

The referee walked over looking slightly embarrassed. I think he knew he was meant to stop the fight before Geodude fell apart. Roark nodded at the younger man and the referee revealed a sleek silver and dark brown coloured badge. Specifically, the Oreburgh city gym badge. Roark took the badge from the referee and seated in the palm of his hand, his outstretched arm offered me the badge.

"I can't take that," I whispered, taking a step back from Roark, bumping myself into Kieran. "I nearly killed your Geodude,"

Roark then grabbed my hand, placing the badge into my sweaty palm before closing my fingers over the shiny metal badge.

"I know it was a short battle, maybe not the gym battle you expected, but technically you did defeat my Pokemon, not kill him,"

Roark then touched the top of his helmet, signaling his departure before receding back into the darkness, taking the baby Geodude with him. Frozen on the spot, Kieran took me by the arm and led me out of the gym, the badge still held clutched in my hand. Sawyer held reassuringly onto my jeans, as if he too was moving me out of the gym.

Everything after that moment was a blur. All I knew was that I did not deserve this gym badge, even if that Roark guy who breeds rocks gave it to me personally.

* * *

Author's Note: A big thankyou to everyone who has reviewed so far and given me OC's to use! A special thanks to Legendary Fairy aswell. :D


	4. One Step Backwards

**One Step Backwards**

Tiny midget tree tops, dull coloured rooftops and rivers in freeze frame were all I saw before me as I stared out the window, my nose pressed against the cold glass. I could hear Minnie and Bella chattering loudly in the cabin. Sawyer was snoring, comfortably sprawled out on a chair. Kieran was reading a trainer's manual complete with worn edges and a faded red cover.

My mind took me back to the conversation I'd had with Kieran this morning.

_"We need to get out of here," Kieran proposed as we hiked past the transport agency. I was both looking forward to the trek north to Floaroma town and dreading it. Still on edge about the battle with Roark, I was again unsure of my capabilities as a trainer. _

_"Okay then, let's stock up and get going," I replied, staring at the Pokemart's blue roof._

_"I've got a better idea," Kieran marched over to one of the booths, speaking with the sales person quickly before returning with two tickets. "I knew there was a faster way to get to Eterna! The tickets were pretty cheap too!" _

That was how I found myself on a blimp or 'airbus' as the captain liked to call it. It was a fairly large balloon with extra small cabins. Thanks to Kieran I was stuck what seemed like millions of miles above the ground, squished into a cabin with the idiot boy and heading to the land of the sun, closer to my hometown then I would have liked. Turns out Kieran did not acknowledge what he was paying for when he saw the word 'discount'. Instead of Floaroma's welcoming aroma of freshly picked flowers filtering the air and the dense forest looming over our heads, we were headed towards surf, sun and a gigantic and ugly light house that was Sunyshore city.

* * *

Sunyshore city was exactly as I expected it to be. Too hot and too sore on my eyes. After making sure Kieran acknowledged my complete disgust with him for bringing me to this desolate place, he gave me a tour of the city. Apparently, he had been here on another occasion.

The best and only good thing about the city was the market. For some odd reason, I really took to the small stalls lining the road. People were selling all sorts of different items, for Pokemon and people alike. I really liked these odd stickers that Kieran called 'seals'. He ended up buying quite a few of them and I watched with amusement as the boy stuck seven star seals onto Bella's oddly coloured Pokeball. They looked tacky and cheap but added a certain flair to the Pokeball, how I did not know.

While deciding what to do after crawling through the market place and picking up quite a few good deals on items for Minnie and Sawyer, Kieran and I found ourselves on the beach. The sand was warm and welcoming, despite my previous thoughts on Sunyshore's beaches and the water looked even more inviting. I watched contently as Minnie, Sawyer, Bella, Neeka the Meditite and Tigg the Poliwag headed straight for the water. Both being water types, Sawyer and Tigg both dove headfirst into the water, clearly happy to be themselves. Bella did seem hesitant about going into the crystal clear water and both Minnie and Neeka nestled themselves into the shallow water lapping at the shoreline.

Smiling, I drew my knees close to my chest, laying my head on my knees. My journey seemed to be going better than I had expected. Things also seemed more enjoyable with others around. I missed Mallory and Gala the twirling Roselia terribly but even Kieran with his odd spiky hair was starting to grow on me.

I half took that back when Kieran nudged me rather hard in my side.

"Hey Stella, look at that," Glaring at Kieran, I noticed that he wasn't looking at me, but rather out to sea. I followed his gaze across the smooth waves. Minnie, Bella and Neeka were still on the shoreline whilst both Tigg and Sawyer had paddled out a little further. I could clearly see Sawyer's yellow fur against the dark blue water; however Tigg was harder to define amongst the surf. There were two other figures who were easily recognizable though. They were floating quite close to Sawyer and Tigg. Both the figures had the yellow fur, extremely similar to Sawyer's own coat. They looked as if they were conversing, I wasn't too sure though.

"Are those other Psyduck?" Kieran said, shielding his eyes from the sun as he peered out across the surf.

"I'm not sure," I replied, although Kieran was right, they did look like Psyduck.

Not particularly worried about the situation, I closed my eyes for a brief moment, knowing that Kieran would be watching the Pokemon. It was only minutes later that I was interrupted again.

I heard the laughing, sneering and quacking before I saw it. My eyes fluttered open just in time to see a boy walk past, grinning at his two Psyduck. His two Pokemon did not look like Sawyer though. After being with the slightly chubby duck for the short time we had been together, I had been under the impression that all Psyduck were like that. But the two Psyduck that sauntered past where Kieran and I sat looked nearly invincible. I looked at Kieran and I knew our minds were thinking alike.

Turning my gaze towards the shoreline, Sawyer and Tigg were both wading back to the sandy beach with Sawyer looking mighty disappointed about something. I watched with confusion as Tigg and Minnie conversed before Minnie, beating her little wings against the air as fast as she could, come streaming over to where I sat with Kieran.

Wide-eyed, Minnie blurted out short sentences. I had no idea what she was going on about but ofcourse I suspected it had something to do with Sawyer's downcast expression as he approached us with the other Pokemon practically dragging him along.

"What happened guys?" Kieran asked. Bella started to babble on to her trainer.

Looking at Kieran, who looked straight back at me with a clueless expression, I realised we were not going to get anywhere with this. I watched the Pokemon for a little longer, noticing how distressed they all looked and how Minnie's frantic eyes searched the crowd swarming the beach. That was when I got an idea.

* * *

The Pokemon center located in Sunyshore city seemed no different to any other center I had been in. There were a few more pot plants scattered around the edges of the lobby and obvious sand grains imbedded in the carpet but apart from that, it was welcoming as the only consistent thing in my life at that moment.

I made my way to the counter, spotting the again familiar Nurse Joy seated behind the desk. Even though it was getting creepy that all of the nurse's looked very much alike, I let it slip my mind and focused on the job at hand.

"Nurse Joy?" I meekly attempted to converse with the pink haired nurse.

"Yes? Do you need something?" she replied, giving me a brilliant smile.

"I was wondering if there was anyway to translate a Pokemon's language into something I could understand?"

I briefly noticed a small pink Pokemon sitting at the desk with the nurse who held a white stone. I'd never seen a Pokemon like that before but it looked strangely similar to the Chansey I had seen with the other nurse's.

"Ofcourse," Nurse Joy tapped away at her computer before producing a small microphone. "The Pokemon just talks into this and the translation should come up on my screen; it's unfortunate that we don't have the best technology here at the center but this usually does the trick,"

I motioned to Minnie to talk into the microphone, as she seemed the most frantic about whatever had happened. She landed with a thud onto the counter before her words buzzed into the microphone. Nurse Joy read the translation, her face turning crimson.

"Uhh..." Something seemed very wrong. "You better read this for yourself," The nurse beckoned. I peered at the computer screen that displayed the words Minnie had spoken into the microphone. I felt my mouth drop and my eyes widen.

Turning to Minnie, I was still in shock.

"They said that?"

Minnie just nodded, looking as upset as Sawyer did. Determination flew through my mind as I stormed out of the Pokemon center, leaving behind a confused Kieran and an embarrassed Nurse Joy. My eyes moved through the crowd of people in front of me as I scanned the area for the boy and his dumb-witted Psyduck pair. Kieran had caught up with me by then, the Pokemon following behind him.

"Stella, what's going on?"

I turned to him before glancing down at Sawyer. The Psyduck I'd befriended just nodded sadly at me.

"I have to find those other Psyduck Kieran, the one's we saw earlier,"

I headed for the beach, hoping I'd find the losers there. Kieran's hand caught my arm though.

"But why? What did Minnie say?"

I knew I owed Kieran an explanation. If we were going to be traveling together, our discussion had to be open, right? My eyes narrowing, I whispered to him in a hushed tone.

"Minnie said the two Psyduck were giving Sawyer a hard time about his, uh..."

Kieran still looked expectantly at me. Exasperated by then, I blurted it out. "About his weight issue Kieran!"

Briefly looking towards the Pokemon who stood clustered in a group together, I watched as Sawyer hung his head in shame. I felt heavy headed and found it hard to breathe, for there seemed like there was nothing I could do. I had failed both Sawyer and Minnie.

* * *

The sky was a brilliant blue colour the day we left Sunyshore city, though it had never looked so grey through my eyes. I still hadn't managed to confront Sawyer about the incident with the Psyduck, though it had only happened two days ago.

"Shall we head to Veilstone then?" Kieran was eager to get going, telling me he had badges to collect and more Pokemon to catch. He had been really helpful with Sawyer and had tried his best to understand that I had in fact failed both my new friends but I could see he didn't. He didn't believe a trainer could ever fail their Pokemon under such light circumstances. And now that he wanted to travel home, I felt my brain about ready to burst.

"We're not going to Veilstone Kieran,"

Kieran's expression, with Bella wobbling about in his arms, turned into confusion.

"Why not? I want to get the badge; I've heard Maylene's pretty good,"

Stopping, I turned to face Kieran.

"I'm not going to Veilstone and that's that,"

"Stella, if this is about Sawyer, then I don't get it. What does he have to do with Veilstone?"

I almost laughed at Kieran's lack of brain cells but instead kept my sulking kid persona switched on a little longer.

"This has nothing to do with Sawyer Kieran; I just don't want to go home,"

"Oh," Kieran's face softened after that. I'd never told him anything of where I came from and who I used to be. I think he assumed I hailed from Jubilife or the small neighboring towns but I think he understood.

After walking in silence through the thick grass for what seemed like ten hours, we made it to the Valor lakefront. It wasn't too busy, but there were quite a few people with Pokemon at their side and ofcourse tourists. You can always tell them apart from everyone else.

This was where I presumed Kieran and I would split up for the time being, with Kieran and wobbly Bella heading north towards his next badge and I would be heading west for the swamping marsh of Pastoria. I seemed to be right.

"I think with us out of the way, you may be able to help Sawyer properly," Kieran started. "So we'll go to Veilstone and get that badge,"

Kieran almost looked upset to be leaving Sawyer, Minnie and I behind. I nodded slowly, before offering out my hand for him to shake. It seemed the proper way to end things for now. Kieran surprised me though as he stepped forward to give me a brief hug. That was something I wasn't expecting. It felt kind of gross too.

"See you then," he mumbled, before heading onto the northbound path that lead up past Lake Valor.

Lost for words, I turned, grabbing the strap of my bag subconsciously and made my way across the sandy grass, having taken a huge step back from the thing I wanted most in my life.

_Together. _


End file.
